A Big Boost for E-Business
Novell's Internet Caching System Reduces Web Traffic Jams... and More
Scenario: It's the week before Christmas. Tens of
millions of Internet users are searching for
last-minute gifts. The Web servers of popular
shopping sites are being pushed to the limit—and
many just can't handle the traffic. With credit cards
in hand, potential customers are enduring
unbearable wait times, and countless move on to
find a site that will take their business. How many
sales will be lost now, and how many will be lost in
the future?
Web server overload seems a fact of life on today's
Internet, a problem that in the past could be
alleviated only by throwing money at new server
clusters or higher-bandwidth connections—both
expensive options.
But now, thanks to a new product from Novell, it
doesn't have to be that way. Novell is now offering a
fast, easy way to increase the capacity and
performance of any Web server or cluster. It's the
Novell Internet Caching System (ICS), a brand new
product that works in any network to effectively
increase the capacity and speed of any Web server
ten-fold, host over 100,000 persistent connections,
and dramatically reduce the hassle and expense of
scaling traffic across multiple Web servers
"We're calling it 'plug-and-accelerate,'" says Smita
Deshpande, director of marketing for Novell's Internet
products. "Just about anybody can install and
implement the system in less than 10 minutes, and
it works within Cisco, NetWare, NT, or UNIX
environments."
ICS is a licensable technology that will be sold
exclusively through Novell's Intel architecture-based
OEM partners. Already, Dell and Compaq have
announced that they will sell caching appliances
based on Novell ICS.
"This is the only solution that delivers the ability and,
most importantly, the affordability to scale the entire
network--from the branch office to the ISP," says
Deshpande.
PERFORMANCE AND SCALABILITY
The Novell ICS integrates a new high-performance,
scalable cache object store with fault tolerance
capabilities such as disk cloning, disk mirroring, and
cache clustering to provide a solution that scales
from small branch offices to the needs of global
enterprises and ISPs. This allows companies to
optimize bandwidth and accommodate new
Internet-based applications.
"A high-performing Web site is the foundation for
e-business," says Deshpande. "You can't expect
customers to wait too long for pages to load or
applications to run."
The performance capabilities of the Novell ICS were proven recently in tests by the
National Laboratory of Applied Network Research (NLANR), a National Science
Foundation networking research and support organization. In head-to-head competition
with products from IBM, InfoLibria, Network Appliance, the University of Wisconsin, and
NLANR itself at the NLANR's recent "Web Cache Bake-Off," Novell's ICS emerged as the
leader in performance and price/performance value.
"Because of its architecture, performance, and price," says Deshpande, "cache
appliances based on ICS can be deployed everywhere, from branch offices to network
operation centers."
EASILY DEPLOYABLE, ADVANCED CAPABILITIES
Novell ICS's management capabilities also make it a natural for deployment in all kinds of
environments. For one thing, it's very simple to install. During his keynote speech at
BrainShare '99 in Salt Lake City, Novell Chief Scientist Drew Major illustrated its simplicity
and ease of use by having his young son install it into a demonstration network right in
front of the crowd.
"Ease of use is clearly very important for customers," says Deshpande. "We're telling
people, 'You don't need to spend hours configuring or maintaining the Internet Caching
System. It's almost like a refrigerator or microwave oven: plug it in and it starts doing its
job almost immediately.'"
It's also easily administered from any location via standard management interfaces such
as a Web browser, Telnet, FTP, or serial connection. Plus it supports SNMP for easy
integration into management consoles.
But its simplicity doesn't tell the whole story. It also includes advanced capabilities like
native and Layer 4 switch transparent proxy to work at the edge of any network.
Additionally, it includes support for URL filtering and blocking, and browser-based
monitoring and logging of usage data and statistics. Plus it contains the ability for
over-the-wire upgrades, so as product feature enhancements are made they can be
applied to the appliance directly over the network adapter.
"The trends in the Internet are clear: Web sites are becoming more bandwidth-intensive,
and the Internet is becoming more integrated into the daily lives of people and
organizations," says Deshpande. "That's why caching is becoming so critical to the
industry, and that's why Novell is offering this easy-to-implement but powerful and
cost-effective solution."
AVAILABILITY
The Novell Internet Caching System is a licensable technology that will be sold
exclusively through Novell's OEM partners, such as Compaq, Dell, and others. Pricing and
availability for OEM Internet Caching Systems will be announced by them.
Published April 14, 1999
novell.com
GO! |
